Floating
by Barely Meeting Expectations
Summary: "I've...never actually been...on a trampoline."  "Really?"  "No, I only said that because it was fun to say. Yes, really!"  Benson's first time on a trampoline with my OC. Oneshot, please review.


Benson was exhausted, and he wasn't about to deny it. His back ached terribly, as if someone had whacked him mercilessly with a bag full of stones. And even after four cups of coffee, he could already feel the drowsiness setting in, luring him to lie down on the steps just for a second so that it could overwhelm him and lull him into a deep sleep.  
>He couldn't allow this, however. There's still so much to be done, he told himself after taking a look at his clipboard while sitting on the steps that lead to the house entrance. He felt something gently scrape the back of his metal legs, and he lifted one of them up to see that the white paint sloppily applied onto the stairs was already chipping. "Ugh, great." he told himself with a hoarse, dry voice. "That's another thing that has to be done," he scribbled down the task on the clipboard hastily. Then he lifted the pen from the paper and looked at his hand for a second, staring at it peculiarly. Sure, it was just his hand, and he'd been using them for day-to-day tasks since he was capable of doing so, but after looking at them, they felt like strangers' hands. The metallic gray reflected the dimming sunlight, and he came to think that his hand was quite interesting. They were…different…<br>"Yo Benson!" a high-pitched voice called behind him. Benson nimbly clipped the pen onto the clipboard and flipped around. There stood a short, skinny teenage hybrid, cat ears and all.  
>"So, I'm done with my stuff for today."<br>Benson plastered on a doubtful expression as he replied.  
>"Really?"<br>"Mmm…Yup."  
>"You did the laundry?"<br>"Yup."  
>"You finished vacuuming the living room?"<br>"Check."  
>"You helped Mordecai and Rigby clean up their bedrooms?"<br>"Err, um…Yup."  
>"And you did the dishes?"<br>"…Mmm…sort of?"  
>"Course not," Benson grumbled and set his clipboard down on the step in front of him. He leaned his red torso on the steps as if it were a bed and shut his eyes. A few seconds later he opened them, seeing Kairo's pale human face hovering centimeters over his.<br>"Are you taking a nap?" The clueless eighteen-year-old girl said, flipping her red bangs out of her gray eyes and twitching her maroon ears in the process. Her eyes were wide open with curiosity and anticipation, despite the drowsy features and the slight bruising along her left cheekbone. She still refused to tell him how she got it or who gave it to her.  
>Benson huffed and lifted his hand to thump the side of her head as a sign to get out of his face. Kairo jerked back nimbly and crawled next to him, lying just like he did, looking up to the sky. It was fading from its bright blue to a subtle red as the sun set along the horizon. Kairo sighed in boredom and shut her eyes as well. She always wanted to fit in with whoever she was with, Benson noticed, which was normally what one would call a "survival reflex" in her case.<br>Benson turned his bulbous head slowly, slow enough to keep the pink gumballs in his dome from clanking together noisily and stirring Kairo up. He looked back at his hand, which was resting next to Kairo's small one. Curiously, he flexed it next to hers, spreading his fingers and extending them as far as they'd go. Then he looked back at Kairo's hand, and then to his. It took him a moment to realize that they were as different as day and night. His was a dull gray, and hers was flat out pale white like High Five Ghosts' hand was. And his hand was huge. No, his wasn't huge. Hers was small. Kairo's hand was so freakin' tiny, with frail fingers and a bony complexion. He moved his zoned out gaze up to his arm. It was pretty average, considering the fact that he was a gumball machine and they usually didn't have limbs to begin with. They were the same dull gray that matched his hands. But Kairo's was skinny and lanky, she almost seemed anorexic. But instead of the same pale skin, from her wrist up was concealed with a loose fitting long sleeved shirt. He thought this to be strange; who would go shopping for clothes that didn't even fit? Benson couldn't be sure, but the thought rolled over him like a wave as he noticed it. She must be hiding something. Perhaps, there were bruises, just like the one impaled onto her cheekbone, all over her arms?  
>He thought about the idea; after all, it would explain why she was so shy and secretive when she wasn't around Mordecai or Rigby. It would also explain why she refused to take part in Punchies, or their reckless football games, or anything else for that matter. But he later forced himself to rid of the idea; If something were going on with her, she would surely tell him. Wouldn't she? He shook his head, causing the gumballs in it to cause a muffled racket, and he turned his head to face the girl lying beside him.<br>Her eyes were still closed, occasionally squeezing themselves to shut tighter, though he didn't really know why. It was just something that she seemed to do whenever she tried to rest. Benson noticed how her expression would rapidly change from peaceful to confused and frightened, all at once, repetitively. Was she having bad dreams? What would cause her to have such horrible nightmares?  
>"Hey Benson?" her soft, cracked voice startled him out of his thoughts.<br>"Wha-? Hmm?" Benson controlled his voice to keep it from sounding surprised.  
>"I'm bored."<br>"Nice to meet you bored, I'm tired."  
>"Are you bored too?"<br>"No Kairo, I just said that I was tired."  
>"Well yah, I know that, but do you want to see something AWESOME?" she asked enthusiastically, propping herself up on her elbows.<br>Benson closed his eyes and sighed.  
>"You know I don't care much for video games."<br>"No, it's not that. It's even better."  
>"What? You actually finishing something?"<br>"Hey!"  
>"Heheh, alright, what is it then?"<br>Kairo tweaked her ears this way and that to ensure that it was only them two outside. Then she hopped up onto her feet and squeaked childishly.  
>"C'mon and I'll show you! C'mon, c'mon, c'mon!" Kairo grabbed his wrist and tried to pull him up to his feet, his eyes still sealed shut. "Ugh, hold on. Just ho- what is your malfunction?" Benson asked with a hint of amusement in his voice as he opened his eyes to watch Kairo try her hardest to pull him up. Considering the fact that he was a gumball machine, he wasn't that heavy.<br>"Aw, you know what? Get up yourself!" Kairo laughed when she saw Benson laughing and she dropped his hand onto his chest and ran down the stairs. Benson pulled himself up and followed her down the steps.  
>The sun was setting now, casting the pair long shadows as they walked briskly towards Muscle Man's mobile home. "Why are we going to Muscle Man's place?" Benson asked, catching up to Kairo.<br>"We're not! The awesome thing is a little behind his trailer. Let's go!" They pressed on and around the green man's shabby residence, and they walked up to something barely visible behind the shade of the trees. Benson gasped.  
>"There's a TRAMPOLINE in the middle of the park?"<br>"Yup, it's been here forever. I can't believe you didn't notice." They stopped in front of the jumbo sized circular trampoline, scanning its netting and its black center with curious eyes. Kairo giggled madly and unzipped the netting entrance. "What're we waiting for? Come on dude!" She said ecstatically, hopping through the open hole and landing on the trampoline. Benson hesitantly grabbed the bar to pull himself up, then released it when he saw that Kairo was propelled up into the air over and over again by the trampoline. Kairo noticed this and jumped toward him.  
>"What's the matter dude?"<br>"Okay, first of all, I'm not 'dude'. And second...I, uh..." he paused for a moment while looking at the giant flexible center.  
>"I've...never actually been...on a trampoline."<br>"Really?"  
>"No, I only said that because it was fun to say. Yes, really!" Benson sighed with irritation as he stared in wonder at the trampoline. "Well, first time for everything!" Kairo said, urging him on with over-gesticulated hand signs telling him to get on. Benson took a small step back. "Um, I-I don't know Kairo...we should really be getting back to..."<br>"Aw come on! Pleeaaaasee?" Kairo produced her big watery eyes and clasped her hands together. Benson looked up and laughed. "Okay, I'm not falling for..."  
>Kairo folded down her ears sadly.<br>Benson groaned. "Fine,"  
>"YAAY!" Kairo bounced over to the entrance and held out her hand, which Benson took and pulled himself up. He stood and balanced on the bar. "Uh..." he said, starting to have second thoughts.<br>"Come on, now just step on, and bounce!" Kairo explained excitedly. Benson released her hand and placed his foot ever so gently onto the trampoline. It bent a little under his weight. Another baby step. Not a lot of movement. Kairo, seeing that he was now in the center of the trampoline, seized her moment. She bounced on her toes and slammed into the center, propelling the both of them high into the air.  
>"GAAH!" Benson screamed in surprise, and subconsciously reached his hand out for something to grab on to. The closest thing was Kairo, so his hand found its way onto her wrist and clung onto it for his life. "WEE!" Kairo screeched with glee as they bounced up and down, despite how the gumballs in Benson's head constantly thwacked the inside of his dome. Benson was looking down at the trampoline in fear the whole time. Kairo saw how he was holding her, and she couldn't help but blush. After all, she considered it a way to kill two birds with one stone.<br>They bounced a few more times before Kairo lifted her feet in midair, causing Benson to do the same. They both bounced on their bottoms and were sent a little less high into the air, and they finally stopped altogether.  
>"WAHOO!" Kairo shouted with an ear-to-ear smile. Benson was still paralyzed, and then he blinked a few times and saw that he was sitting still. "Did you like it? Was it fun or what?" Kairo exclaimed excitedly.<br>"Or what," Benson said under his breath, shaking off his dizzy feelings. He looked down and saw that he was still holding Kairo. Kairo noticed as well. Quick as a flash, Benson tore his hand away and rubbed the back of his head, looking away and clearing his throat as he did so. Kairo suppressed a giggle.  
>"So, ho-how long have you known that this was here?" Benson stammered in a desperate attempt to change the subject. Kairo shrugged. "Not long. Mordecai and Rigby showed me when they were trying to find a place to hide all of the broken plates and vases from that one party they had. Funny though, they just put them under it."<br>Benson stopped short, and peeked his head over the trampoline. Kairo immediately knew of her mistake. She quietly prowled towards the trampoline's exit, before Benson caught her by the back of her shirt. "Oopsies, heh," Kairo said, fiddling with her hands and looking away as Benson turned her around to face him.  
>"A party?"<p> 


End file.
